


Sparkless

by UnseenMisfit



Series: Empty Chambers [1]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Even though it starts out like that a bit, Gen, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm decent at writing, More tags to be added, Not a self-insert or "reader" story, Rating May Change, Shockwave's science experiments, The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye (IDW), Unethical Experimentation, plot-relevant oc, slow uploads, spark experiments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-07-19 07:04:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7350856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnseenMisfit/pseuds/UnseenMisfit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shockwave has always had more than one plan going at a time. While everybody was focused on the Titans, his backup plan was already in effect. After all, it would be illogical to use all of the Life Ore on one subject, would it not?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Daffodils

**Author's Note:**

> First story on this site, though not my first story ever. If you see any spelling errors, typos, general mistakes, please tell me. I will happily fix them. Also, thank you for clicking on the story, I do hope that you find it enjoyable.

The yellow flowers had always been his favorite.

The softness of petals, the bright color that seemed to mimic the lights and reflect back some beauty, the life held in each little piece. Yes, yellow flowers were his favorite.

He carefully picked one of the little things, holding it as firmly as he dared without snapping its delicate stem. Organic life was so fragile, easy to ruin and make perish. He could crush it in an instant. Smear that yellow everywhere it would stick, grind the stem into a formless ooze, scatter the delicate insides to the air. But he wouldn’t. Not now, at least.

“How does this scenery make you feel?”

The voice came from all around, echoing against his audials. A blink, and then he looked up at the rest of the world around him. He had been so focused on the single yellow flower in his hands that he had not seen it before. Surrounding the patch of yellow flowers was a mess of wreckage. Hands stuck up from the ground like metal monuments, broken weapons and shards of armor were scattered about here and there. In the distance he could see something that looked like a crashed ship with some sparks still bursting from holes every so often.

He shuttered his optics, and then looked back down at the flower in his hands once they opened again. How did this make him feel?

Without looking up from the flower, he spun the delicate thing in his servos and said shortly “Peaceful.”

After all, there were no other bots here trying to hurt his flowers, or to take them away. He could just focus on them without any distractions. The only reason he wasn’t upset with the voice asking him questions was because he had grown used to it. It had, after all, been there for as long as he could remember. So had the mech with one eye who sometimes visited him. He called the bot ‘Creator’, since that’s what they said they were to him.

“What do you think killed those around you?”

He shrugged, looking around for clues as to the right answer. There were splashes of oil and energon everywhere, including on his chassis when he looked down. In fact, those were the only hints of color on his flat, completely gray frame. Had he done this? He didn’t remember doing it. But the evidence was all there. “I did.”

“And why did you do all of this?”

That was an odd question. Usually they focused on facts; how things made him feel, how something was done, who had been responsible for something. Did he even know the answer to this question? After a moment of thinking, he realized that he did know the answer. “I did this for my Creator.” 

There was a pause from the voice, then a pleased sounding “Very good. Simulation over.”

He watched in slight sadness as the flower in his hand glitched, then vanished along with the rest of the scenery. He wished he could take one of the yellow flowers with him. But Creator said that soon he would be able to see all the real things he wanted. So long as he was good and passed all of his tests, that was.

Once everything was gone he stood up, shambling over to the door and waiting. It hissed open a few moments later to show the familiar pitch black corridor with only a strip of green light showing the way for him to go, the light not giving any definition of its surroundings. He knew he had to follow the trail just like every other time. Creator no longer had other bots magnetize a blindfold on him and lead him to his quarters. Creator trusted him not to stray from the path.

It lead in a winding spiral, going down further into the only place he had ever seen as real. There was occasional rustling from one side or the other; he had asked Creator about it once before, but had been told not to worry about those. So he did as he was told, and even when something like a whimper came from his left he didn’t stop.

His quarters were small and dimly lit, containing a berth, a small table, chair, and some datapads that he had been given for passing his tests. Most of the datapads were about different cybertronian illnesses (Creator had told him that a ‘cybertronian’ was what they were, he just nodded and accepted it) and their causes. Others were about how to do basic self-repairs. Those were his favorite ones.

He grabbed the nearest self-repair datapad and laid down on the berth to turn it on and read. Usually he would read until it was time for his energon injection, then read a bit more until the lights went out to signal for him to go into recharge.

This routine, however, was interrupted after only a few pages on attaching servos back on when the door to his quarters beeped, signalling it was about to slide open. He looked up, setting the pad down and standing in respect for Creator.

When the door was out of the way, there he was. Creator had one optic and no faceplates, his dark purple frame just a little smaller. Creator strolled in, the door remaining open behind him. “You did very well on your test” Creator spoke briskly.

He just nodded, smiling at the praise. It made him feel accomplished. He had done something good. It had made Creator happy, the one who took care of him.

These visits weren’t entirely unusual, though usually the door closed when Creator went in. The door only ever remained open when it was time for a test to be done. But he had just finished a test, was there another one?

Before he could ask, Creator spoke again. “So well, in fact, I have decided to give you a gift. Come with me.” Creator turned and walked out the door, the green lights going in a different direction than they usually went in. This time, it went further down.

He scrambled to go after creator, leaving the room with a curious sound. He trusted Creator, of course, so didn’t ask where they were going. He had never received a gift before other than the datapads. And those were simply in his room when he returned from test, or, on one occasion, brought in by Creator himself. He wondered what this could be.

Their pedes echoed noisily down the corridor, Creator’s steps falling faster than his own. It felt like forever until the green light vanished beneath the bottom of a door.

It slid open, and he raised a hand to block the bright light from his sensitive optics. He spent so much of his time in the dark. In fact, this could possibly be the brightest light he’d ever encountered.

As soon as his optics were adjusted he lowered his hand, looking around the room. It was bright, but he already knew that. The walls were white, although they looked like the same material as his quarter walls. Slick and sturdy, not a dent or scratch in sight. There were objects in orderly assemblies, tables with jars and samples, flasks, and all sorts of equipment. One table even held the offline head of another cybertronian. He recognized the head as one of the bots who used to blindfold him. Perhaps the other bot hadn’t passed a test correctly.

But the thing that caught his optic was a line of large containers connected by tubes and wiring to each other. Inside was a thick blue liquid that looked like the energon injections he was given. In the middle of each was some body part suspended in the solution. One held an arm hooked to tubes and wires, the servos occasionally twitching or clenching as if searching for something to grasp onto. Another was tail-like appendage much like the tube Creator had. There were several other parts, but out of them all, the most interesting was the middle one. All the other tubes connected to it directly.

Floating in the middle, making the energon around it glimmer and warp, was an orb. He looked into the opening on one side of the metal, and was instantly transfixed by the beautiful blue glow emanating from it. The light was beautiful, comforting, and warm. Far brighter than the lights in the room but it didn’t hurt his optics.

He didn’t even realize he had wandered over and was reaching for it until one of Creator’s hands came up to hold his wrist and pulled it away. “Do not touch those. It may interfere with the research result.”

He shrunk slightly in on himself, ashamed for doing something Creator was not pleased with.

“Lay down on the table” Creator told him, gesturing to one of the medical tables lined up on a different wall. There were multiple sized ones, ranging from half of his size to almost twice it. He went to the gestured to one and found it a perfect fit, laying down patiently while wondering what the gift would be. Before he could finally give in to curiosity and ask, Creator picked up a syringe and injected the contents into one of the main energon lines in his neck. From there, things went instantly hazey before recharge forced its way upon him.

When his systems rebooted, he was still on the table. The only difference he could immediately tell was that everywhere was a bit sore, and he felt slightly heavier. “You are awake. Good” Creator commented from a table where he was typing in some numbers. “Look at yourself in the mirror.”

He nodded and got up, his joints groaning slightly in protest from the movement. He thudded over to the mirror and looked at himself. What he saw made him let out a surprised vent.

Where before his plating was all the same shade of gray without any variation other than the underlying cables, he was now painted. Most of his plating was now yellow, accents of green here and there added variation to it. He looked like the flowers he loved so much in the simulation training room.

Just to be sure this was real, he reached up and ran his servos over his face plates gently. Most of the face plates were still gray, along with the undertones of his servos, but he thought it looked nice. He allowed his face guard to slide into place, finding it the same yellow with a diamond shape of green centered on it. A finger traced over the finials on his head; yellow, green outlining the edges and a green stripe in the middle. Now he could make out small plates he hadn’t even known existed. “Thank you Creator, thank you!” he said, looking to Creator who was impassively standing there watching him.

“It was only logical that you should be painted. Otherwise rust would easily be able to overcome your armor.”

He just nodded, looking back to his reflection. He would not be so easily destroyed as the flowers. He would last for so much longer with the care of Creator.

“Another thing. I have given you a designation.”

He looked to Creator again, tipping his head to the side in confusion. A designation? Like a name? Creator had told him before that he didn’t have one. But he supposed that a designation would be a nice thing to have. Better that it was given to him by his creator.

Creator walked over, looking into the mirror. He followed the lead and looked at the two of them in the glass surface. “Your designation is now Gearshock. You will be required to know this for a mission I have planned for you.”

Gearshock nodded, wide grin showing his moderately sharp denta. Anything for his creator.


	2. Lillies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Gearshock learns what his purpose is

“Gearshock. What do you say if a Mech or Femme offers you their friendship.”

The aforementioned mech was busy looking out at the sky -the /real/ sky, with no ceiling to it- but managed to catch and answer the question. “How well do I know the bot?”

For the past several trials, Creator had been asking questions that were more complex. Ones that required Gearshock to ask for more information. Creator told him that it was to strengthen his problem solving skills past those of ‘illogical first impressions and lack of data’ as he had put it. But the yellow and green mech just found the questions interesting to answer and ask about.

“You have known them for one decacycle. You have spent a total of twenty cycles together in which you have had no disagreements.” Creator was standing next to Gearshock and carefully observing the mech for any signs of distress or hesitation.

“Hmm, well I guess that they should be my friend then. If we have no disagreements they could be a valuable ally in times of combat. Is that the right answer, Creator?” Gearshock looked from the sky to the one-eyed mech, hope in his bright purple optics. He would do anything to please his creator, the one who had taken care of him, given him a name, and given him so much knowledge of the world even before he had felt it for himself.

Creator didn’t react to his answer. The smaller mech just moved on to the next question. “What would you do if you became friends, but one day they attempted to offline you?”

The thought made Gearshock frown. That would be mean. But there was really only one answer. “I would offline them before they could offline me. Friends shouldn’t hurt each other. So they must not have been a very good friend while we were together.”

“Your answer is logical.” Creator agreed in a manner he had been using more and more. There was a moment of silence, which allowed the yellow and green mech to get a bit distracted. There were some shiny fragments of metal on the ground not far away. If they were thin, then maybe he would be able to bend the pieces into something. Perhaps give it to Creator as a gift.

He wandered on over and started picking up the little scraps. Some of them had paint on them still, but most were charred black. He wondered briefly who they had belonged to. Sitting down right where he was with a dull thud, Gearshock started bending the thin metal into the shapes he wanted them to be. The feeling of Creator’s single optic watching him didn’t even make the cybertronian flinch. He was used to Creator watching him all the time now.

When Creator spoke again he looked back, hands stopping their fiddling. “What if they did not attempt to offline you, but I ordered you to do so to them?”

There was a long pause. Offline only because he was told to? Was that okay? He stared at the warped metal in his hands. This metal had been a part of a mech before. Had protected another cybertronian, maybe. “Why would I need to kill another cybertronian if they weren’t trying to hurt me first?” Gearshock had never said ‘kill’ before, but he knew what it meant. Somehow it sounded worse than offlining another cybertronian.

Another silence. “Return back to the base, and follow the light path. You will meet Brace. She will explain the logic behind offlining another Cybertronian.”

Gearshock felt that like a punch to the face. He had displeased his creator somehow, he was sure of it. Wasn’t he supposed to ask questions now? Perhaps he had asked a wrong question. But he had only wanted to understand…

With a heavy feeling he stood, putting the scraps of metal into his subspace to continue forming later. He wasn’t stopped by Creator, so he assumed that it would be okay. With that done Gearshock shuffled back to the rectangular structure jutting out from the ground, the door on it opening to reveal the escalator. Creator went over and punched in a code on the pad before stepping back out and letting the elevator close and descend into the darkness.

The path was windy, just as many other of the paths were. Turning sharp corners and going down then up, the light guiding him on his way. There was no shuffling from either side on this floor. Only eerie silence. And somehow, the silence made Gearshock’s vents come just a little bit quicker and his pedes hit the ground just a little bit faster. Dark and quiet on an unfamiliar floor… something about that just made him cold down to his struts.

His chronometer told him it was only a klik he was following the trail, but it felt like at least two breems. Though whatever time it was, he was relieved to find that the lights finally disappeared behind a door. He reached up a hand to knock on the metal, but there was the sound of moving parts, a bright light, and his hand hit nothing when it went forwards.

Once his optics adjusted to the dull lighting he blinked in confusion. Where was Brace?

A throat clearing got him to look down. The mech in front of him wasn’t quite the size of a minibot, but she didn’t appear to be full sized either. Somewhere in between. But the look she gave him was enough to keep him from saying any remarks about her size.

“Come inside. Shockwave already commed me what your visit is about.” she said roughly, turning to walk in. Her plating was mostly gunmetal gray with red pieces here and there, covered with scratches and dents that looked old and uncared for. He briefly wondered why she didn’t get those fixed before following her order for him to enter.

Her quarters were much like his, only with mildly smaller furniture and more datapads. Her door even had a keypad on the inside, so he assumed that she was allowed to come and go from her quarters as she pleased. Gearshock felt a bit of envy at that but quickly battered it down. He would be allowed to wander when Creator saw fit.

“Who’s Shockwave?” he asked Brace, who just looked at him with irritation before sitting on her berth and motioning for Gearshock to sit on the chair across from her. She just ignored his question completely and started talking as soon as he sat down.

“So you asked why you would need to kill a bot who hadn’t hurt you, huh? Don’t answer” she snapped with a hand up when he opened his mouth to do just that. “Doesn’t he teach you things rhetorical questions…?” That part was muttered to herself.

“So here’s the deal on what I’m allowed to tell you. There’s a war going on, Gearshock. It’s Gearshock, right? Anyways, yeah. War. Big, bad, ugly war all stemming from just a few mechs who think that their way of thinking is the only way of thinking. And these mechs make other bots think the same way as them, so that those mechs and get more bots to join their sides and fight each other over whose idea is better. Thing is, lots of bots are being offlined because of this. Not even bots who are in the fights: civilians, newly forged, innocent bystanders are all getting attacked over ideas. All because of just a few bots who are high and mighty.”

Brace leaned forwards more, arms rested on her knees.

“And one of these days, my understanding is that it’ll be your job to take down some of those bots that are the main reason for this whole mess. With them gone, then they won’t have a leader, so that part of the fighting will be easier to control. Keep doing that to all the leaders, and eventually the groups will be forced to come together and bam. No more war. And when that happens, the person who’s responsible for the peace will likely be in control of everything that was taken over during the war. But to reach that kind of peace, some bots have to die. Even if they didn’t do something to you personally, you can bet they’ve hurt many other bots and deserve what’s coming to them. Trust somebody who’s been in nearly every group this war has to offer. This way is really the best way, the only way, to get this fighting to stop. Sure, bots are dying, but it's all for the greater peace.”

Gearshock listened intently, eyes widening. Things seemed to make more sense as she spoke. So that’s why there were so many scraps of metal and pieces of bots laying around! There was a war! And it was going to be his job to go and offline bots that had done awful things to other bots? That made sense enough. And it was for his Creator. He didn’t have to ask more questions to know that when all this was done, Creator would be the one in control. That would please Creator, wouldn’t it?

He nodded obediently. “Thank you, Brace. I understand now.”

She just nodded back and gestured to the door. “Now leave.”

Gearshock stood up and went to the door, the metal sliding open. He sent a ping on the line Creator had made for him for necessary communication only, letting him know that Brace had finished. The lights on the floor flickered on after a moment, leading him back down the hallway the way he had come.

Now he knew the reason behind his purpose. Gearshock was here to follow his creator’s orders, yes, but now he knew that there was a bigger picture to all of this. He would be one of the mechs to end the war he had only just heard about. He would follow his creator’s commands like a good bot, no matter what the order was.

He couldn’t wait for when Creator would tell him what his first mission was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See any typos, poor wording, or other errors? Please tell me, I'm always happy to go back and change those irritating little things.  
> Suggestions, comments, advice? Feel free to leave a note. I live for constructive criticism.

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism and suggestions are highly appreciated.


End file.
